accuse

play

verb ac·cuse \ ə-ˈkyüz \

Definition of accuse

accused; accusing

transitive verb

1 :to charge with a fault or offense :blame

He accused her of being disloyal.

2 :to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process

He was accused of murder.

intransitive verb

:to bring an accusation

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accuser

play \ə-ˈkyü-zər\ noun

See accuse defined for English-language learners

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Examples of accuse in a Sentence

she was accused of lying on the employment application

Recent Examples of accuse from the Web

In 2015, anti-corruption investigators detained Ma and later accused him of accepting $8.8 million in bribes from Guo, who fled the country.

— Washington Post, "AP Exclusive: China accuses outspoken tycoon in US of rape," 31 Aug. 2017
Councilwoman April DeFalco said the mayor targeted her, accusing her and other council members of drug use, even directing police officers to look through the trash of her and her mother.

— scott wartman, Cincinnati.com, "Falmouth mayor impeached after three divisive years," 30 Aug. 2017
The tough Italian government official whom many credit with reducing arriving migrants — or accuse of introducing draconian policies — is Interior Minister Marco Minniti.

— alissa j. rubin and jason horowitz, New York Times, "European Leaders Look to Africa to Stem Migration," 28 Aug. 2017
Klein, whose group represents the hard-right of the Israel debate, played a key role in the attacks against one of Bannon’s top rivals in the White House, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster; Klein had accused McMaster of being anti-Israel.

— rosie gray, The Atlantic, "Steve Bannon to Speak at ZOA Gala," 28 Aug. 2017
Getting off clean: The hotel owner accused of stealing dirty towels from Mango’s Tropical Cafe during a long-running political feud with the popular nightclub.

— david ovalle and charles rabin, miamiherald, "It’s a South Beach feud over liquor and dirty towels. But the arrest case is over," 28 Aug. 2017
A lawsuit filed by a former faculty member of Charlotte School of Law accuses school president Chidi Ogene of conspiring to defraud the government out of student-loan money.

— michael gordon, charlotteobserver, "Charlotte School of Law bilked $285 million from taxpayers, former faculty member says," 28 Aug. 2017
The indictment accuses three alleged kidnappers of four other similar abductions of immigrants bound by bus for Hartford.

— edmund h. mahony, courant.com, "Three Accused In Scheme To Kidnap Immigrants," 28 Aug. 2017
Classmates started sharing messages accusing her of theft.

— anna webb, idahostatesman, "A report says Idaho is the No. 1 cyberbullying state. Here’s what you should know.," 24 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accuse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.